The guide provides a walkthrough of
installing an Oracle Database 11g Release 1 database on
commodity hardware for the purpose of evaluation. If
you are new to Linux and/or Oracle, this guide is for you. It starts
with the basics and walks you through an installation of Oracle
Database 11g Release 1
from the bare metal up. Both 32-bit and 64-bit
architectures are covered. Unless otherwise indicated, the
installation steps are the same for either.

This guide
will take the approach of offering the easiest paths, with the fewest
number of steps for accomplishing a task. This approach often means
making configuration choices that would be inappropriate for anything
other than an evaluation. For that reason, this guide is not
appropriate for building production-quality environments, nor does it
reflect best practices.

This guide is
divided into four parts: Part I covers the installation of the Linux
operating system, Part II covers configuring Linux for Oracle, Part III
discusses the essentials of installing the Oracle Database, and Part IV
covers creating additional filesystems and Automatic
Storage Management (ASM). The Appendix provides
information to help you get started using your new database including
how to access the database interactively and how to stop and start the
database and related services.

Part I: Installing
Oracle Enterprise Linux 5

This section describes how to install Oracle Enterprise Linux 5
(OEL5) on your hardware. Please take a moment to make sure that your
hardware meets or exceeds the minimum hardware requirements for
Oracle Database 11g Release 1.

Note: Both Linux and Oracle must be
installed for the same architecture. 32-bit Oracle will only
run on 32-bit Linux and 64-bit Oracle will only run on 64-bit Linux.

Now, let's
walk through the process of installing the Linux operating system on a
server. The instructions assume a fresh install of Linux (as opposed to
an upgrade), that the server will be dedicated to Oracle, and that no
other operating systems or data are on the server.

Oracle Database 11g Release 1
is certified to run the base release of OEL5 without updates. Free
copies of OEL5
are available for download.

Boot the server using the first CD or DVD

You may need to change your BIOS settings
to allow booting from the CD/DVD.

The boot screen appears with the boot:
prompt at the bottom of the screen.

Select Enter to continue with a
graphical install on the console.

The installer scans your hardware

Oracle Enterprise Linux splash screen

Click on Next

Language Selection

Accept the default.

Keyboard Configuration

Accept the default.

Install or Upgrade

Select Install and click on Next

Disk Partitioning Setup

A thorough treatment of disk partitioning
is beyond the scope of this guide, which assumes that you are familiar
with disk partitioning methods.
WARNING: Improperly partitioning a disk
is one of the surest and fastest ways to wipe out
everything on your hard disk. If you are unsure how to
proceed, stop and get help, or you will risk losing data!)

Accept the default partition layout. Note that the
default layout is sufficient for an evaluation, but would
not be appropriate for other purposes. The default
layout may create a swap partition that is smaller than the
Oracle guidelines recommend. This is also sufficient
for an evaluation.

Network Configuration

It is usually best to configure database
servers with a static IP address. To do so, click on Edit .

A pop-up window appears. Uncheck the Configure using DHCP box, and enter the IP Address and
Netmask for the server. Be sure that Activate on boot
is checked, and click on OK .

In the Hostname box, select manually and enter the hostname.

In the Miscellaneous Settings box, enter
the remaining network settings.

Time Zone Selection

Choose the time settings that are
appropriate for your area. Setting the system clock to UTC is usually a
good practice for servers. To do so, select on System
clock uses UTC.

Set Root Password

Enter a password for root, and enter it
again to confirm.

Package Installation

This guide will follow the Oracle recommended practice
of using a "default RPMs" installation. Accept the
default software selection and click on Next.

Additional RPMs are required to run Oracle
Database 11g Release 1. These will be installed later.

Installing Packages

Software will be copied to the hard disk
and installed. Change disks as prompted.

After software installation is complete

Remove any boot CD/DVD media.

Click on Next.

Welcome

Click on Forward

License Agreement

Read the license agreement. If you agree
to the terms, select Yes, I agree to the License
Agreement and click on Forward.

Firewall Configuration

For the purposes of this walk-through, no
firewall is configured. Select Disabled
and click on Forward.

Click on Yes when the
"Warning - No Firewall" window appears.

SELinux

Select Disabled from the drop down bar and
click on Forward.

Kdump

Do not enable Kdump. Accept the default and click
on Forward.

Date and Time

Set the Date and Time.

If you want to use an NTP server
(recommended), select Enable Network Time Protocol
and enter the name of the NTP server.

System User

Create an account for yourself.

Do not create an account for oracle at this
time. Creating the oracle account is covered later in this section.